Ruling Party and Opposition Lock Horns Over Legislative Battle for Lee Administration's Success

[Financial News, Incheon and Goyang, Gyeonggi Province = Reporters Lee Hae-ram, Kim Hyeong-gu, and Song Ji-won]The Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party each held a workshop and retreat to set their legislative strategy for the regular session of the National Assembly in September. The Democratic Party said it would wage a "legislative war" to support the Lee Jae-myung administration's state affairs. The People Power Party, meanwhile, plans to block the Democratic Party's legislative dominance through a campaign against the government and the ruling party.
The Democratic Party of Korea held a workshop for lawmakers on the 27th at Inspire Hotel & Resort in Yeongjong-gu, Incheon. The meeting was designed to set legislative priorities, operating plans, and strategy for the regular session of the National Assembly. Prime Minister Han Seong-sook and other ministers attended and discussed legislative strategy with Democratic Party lawmakers.
The party said it would devote all its efforts to legislative support for the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration. It views the 100-day regular session as a golden window that will determine the administration's fate. In particular, it plans to establish a system for close cooperation between the party and the government by making high-level and working-level party-government consultations a regular fixture.
For this regular session, the party identified its top legislative priorities as housing supply bills, a special law on mega special zones, the establishment of a future response fund, youth support legislation, and police reform. All are aimed at supporting the government's housing supply measures and three major mega projects. It also stressed the importance of reviewing the 2027 budget to be submitted by the government. Han Byung-do, the parliamentary leader, said, "We will secure a robust budget to ease the hardships of everyday life and ensure that investments needed for youth jobs and housing, the recovery of small business owners and the self-employed, regional growth, and the nurturing of future industries are made on time." He added, "We will pass the budget bill that supports livelihood recovery and future growth within the legal deadline without disruption."
To push ahead with those bills, the party said it is prepared to wage a "legislative war" with the People Power Party. Bills opposed by the People Power Party will be placed on the fast-track for forced passage, it warned. Han said, "We will fully activate all standing committees and complete legislation swiftly," adding, "We will not tolerate even a bit of the People Power Party's obstruction of state affairs."
The People Power Party also held a retreat on the same day at Sono Calm Goyang in Gyeonggi Province. The party said the Lee Jae-myung administration is undermining democracy and the rule of law, stressing that it must focus on fighting the government as a clear opposition force. It pointed to policy failures across a wide range of areas, including housing, stocks, prices, education, the Yellow Envelope Act, South Korea–United States relations, and prosecution reform. Jang Dong-hyuk went so far as to say, "Can we really leave things like this for another four years? The public is worried and angry."
As a minority opposition party with limited ability to lead policy legislation on its own, it is expected to focus on checking the government and the ruling party. In particular, it reaffirmed its determination to stand out during the Parliamentary Inspection of the Administration, which is seen as the "opposition's time." Jeong Jeom-sig said, "As the opposition, we must point out in detail what is wrong with the government and ruling party's policies in each standing committee and present alternatives." He added, "The rushed introduction of a single-stock leveraged ETF and the controversy over mobilizing the National Pension Service (NPS) to prop up stock prices must be fully exposed through the Parliamentary Inspection of the Administration." The party also plans to intensify its offensive on housing policy, which is seen as contributing to the decline in approval ratings for the president and the ruling party.
It also plans to prepare policy alternatives. Im Lee-ja, the Policy Committee Chairperson, said the slogan for this regular session was set as a "100-day all-out campaign to revive a National Assembly focused on the public livelihood." She added, "We will push ahead with more than 130 key legislative tasks in seven areas to counter the government's missteps," and "We will fill the session with alternative legislation that corrects misguided policies and protects people's lives, from housing stability, economic growth, and the protection of public assets and vulnerable groups to public safety, balanced regional development, and the future of young people."

[email protected] Reporter Lee Hae-ram, Song Ji-won, and Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter